Friday, January 27, 2017

I have been meaning to write this blog post for weeks if not months so let`s talk about anxiety.

Anxiety is a pretty bad symptom of low self-esteem, negative feelings about yourself, situations, everything that the past, present or future can involve. It might be a desire to do something as we feel uneasy, nervous, anxious about someone or something, and it most probably interferes with your everyday life, in some cases with your professional life and relationships too. Some people even need to take medication and visit doctors on a regular basis.

I have recently experienced the effects of anxiety by seeing someone who I have known for a while and never thought that he fought this disease. His case is pretty serious and made me think of ways of me tackling anxiety (on a much lower level) in my personal life. In my humble opinion, whoever says that they don`t have any anxiety, they truly lie. You can have anxiety because of a job interview, a bad relationship, fear of the future, decision making, a new job, school, your kids, a family issue, health problems, friendships, basically anything. Even the most simple thing, like what to have for breakfast.

Now, when I am over 30, and I see things a bit differently than 10-15 years ago, I can truly say that I can handle anxiety in certain ways and but only up to a certain extent. I am far away from a calm, chill mind but I am working on it very hard to free myself from the burden of it.

I can get anxious and nervous when I face new situations and when I don`t feel prepared enough for any future happenings personally or professionally. I have found out throughout the years that some simple steps work for me to lessen the negative effects and actually turn them into something positive and useful.

Some of my suggestions that work for me (so might work for you too):1. Make lists, plan ahead: I almost always have a to-do-list that helps me prioritize and see what is ahead of me that day/week no matter if it is something personal or at work.

2. Clean your desk, your room, your house and essentially your life: every morning when I wake up and get ready to work, I try to organize a small section of the apartment meaning that I put away clothes, shoes, clean dishes whatever makes the place messy.

3. Do not overwhelm yourself with many resolutions: seriously, how many times have you sworn that you will work out five times a week, you only eat healthy, you will not spend money on clothes that you don`t even wear...? I did, many times. I do not create a long list of resolutions any more, I just stick to 1 or maybe 2 things at a time and be happy with the results. I am actually doing pretty well by not spending on unnecessary clothes any more.

4. Celebrate your success: every time you feel victorious by tackling your anxiety, you can reward yourself with small things like a candy, a walk outside, a good book...

5. Try to have some quiet time whenever you can: turn off your tv, the music, close your windows if you have noisy commute outside. Quiet your head and mind, and feel refreshed after even a couple of minutes of calmness.

6. Meditate: one of my husband`s friend struggles with anxiety issues and he told me about Headspace. It is an app that you can download on your Ipad or phone and listen to 10 minute sessions every day. I read so many reviews and everyone is amazed by Headspace, so am I, I truly recommend it to anyone.

7. Work out, do some yoga or just take a walk

8. Read supporting literature: whatever you feel like, honestly. You can read anything as long as your mind does not wander off and you r.e.a.d. I am telling you this because I am so bad at this. My mind goes everywhere, unless I have something in my hand that it so interesting that I just can`t stop and put it down. But it is pretty rare.

9. Color, yes, color some pictures like you did when you were 6: it calms your nerves and really helps clear your thoughts. First, I was very skeptical and I believed it was childish but no, it actually works.